Avalon
"..this world is alive - our actions shape it and if we are not careful it will be our actions that will destroy it.." ''~ Maria '''Avalon' is an ancient and magical land that has been the home-land of the Pegacorn race since their very beginnings, it is a land that is totally alien compared to the mainstream physics of the world humans have come to know as reality - in Avalon sword and sorcery rules supreme and although science exists it is largely replaced with fantastical elements such as alchemy and witchcraft. HISTORY The Fall of Camelot Avalon began as the city of Camelot during the reign of King Arthur, when the legendary king died in battle with Mordred the arch-mage known as Merlin took the city of Camelot and spirited it away to a new dimension to try and preserve the powers of Excalibur and other items forged from Arthurian legend. Thus Avalon was born, becoming a floating island roughly the size of Ancient Britain it was fashioned largely by Merlin's own magic and thus Merlin can be considered the Creator of Avalon - however the races that inhabit it now emerged from Avalon itself, the land being magic by nature (due to it being of Merlin's design) and capable of creating new life-forms based upon the needs and fears of those who settle on it. For many generations the only inhabitants of Avalon were a small pocket of humans from Camelot, who buried King Arthur deep in a mountain alongside Excalibur and sealed it shut as a final act of respect for their fallen ruler. Yet with time the needs and fears of the humans who settled in Avalon would form new races, each of which would prove to have an effect on the future of Avalon.. The Living Isle The first of the "new races" to be born from the minds of humanity were the magnificant Alicorns, who embodied the desire for magic following Merlin's departure - as this void was filled the Valkyrie were next to emerge, alongside the Mountain Dwarves, both born of the need for strength and trade amongst humanity and the Alicorns. The bickering and small-scale quarrels that occured even in the peace of Avalon gave birth to the Imps, as a result these fairy-like creatures would always prefer the wilds to the city and became pranksters by nature who liked to test the other races patience yet rarely harmed anyone on purpose. The Rise of The Pegacorns It was not long after the Imps emerged that the Pegacorns were born into Avalon, unlike the races that came before them the Pegacorns were born of a dangerous ambition - the lingering desire to return to the glorious empire of old, without Arthur's wisdom to guide them or Merlin's discipline humanity's thoughts become bitter and as a result when the Pegacorns emerged they were a powerful yet intolerant race. Despite this the Pegacorns were not inherently evil beings, they were simply more prone to corruption than the other races that came before them - which would prove devastating as the malevolent eld-beings known as the Watchers took notice of this small weakness in Avalon's design and began to infest it like a foul cancer, hardening the hearts of many and darkening the land as a result. In order to try and prevent the Watchers from corrupting Avalon further Merlin did return to the isle for a brief period of time following the rise of the Pegacorns - during this time Merlin opened Avalon to the Dragon-Flights and allowed them to bless the isle with their power, Merlin would also reluctantly open the gates of Tartarus for the first time in order to act as a prison for souls that had become irreversably corrupted. After these tasks were done Merlin departed Avalon and the Dragon Aspects soon followed, though some younger Dragons stayed behind in order to study Avalon further and keep it safe. The First Pendragon After many years of co-existence the Pegacorns finally broke away from the other races of Avalon and formed a large city for themselves - crowning one of their own as a new King the first Pendragon was officially in power. With the guidance of their new King the Pegacorns spread out and became an empire in their own right, yet other species began to suffer as a result - this went largely unnoticed by the Pegacorns and their expansion continued, although intent on making new land for themselves the Pegacorns continued to trade with other species and were never hostile unless provoked. Unfortunately the Watchers began to return, sensing Merlin's departure, with them came a new wave of negativity which poisoned the land again - spawning vicious new species such as Ogres and Trolls, which contributed to the loss of many of the older races: growing smaller in number and forced into war to survive the older races began to clash more and more with the Pegacorns and their expansion became an unwelcome strain on Avalon's dwindling resources. Realizing that his people were dangerously close to being corrupted the first Pendragon created The Order and appointed a High-Priest to combat the evils of the Watchers via ritual and prayer - he also created a code of war for his people and punished those who went against it. As a result of these changes the first Pendragon was hailed as a reincarnation of Arthur himself by humanity, who offered him the secret of Excalibur - yet he declined this offer in favor of a blessed-weapon of his own design: the Celestial-Blade. Such was the power of the Celestial-Blade that once finished the first Pendragon forbade its use and sealed it behind his throne - he would proceed to father seven children before he finally died, his body was burned atop a pyre and his ashes blown to the winds. King Equinox Following the death of the first Pendragon there came four periods of Pendragon rule - each one had ups and downs but none of them resulted in as much torment as the fifth rule: that of King Equinox, the first true Tyrant Avalon had to endure, as well as its last. Born the son of the first Queen of Avalon King Equinox was raised as a warrior, distrustful of other races Equinox would grow darker in personality as he grew older and Avalon in turn picked up on his emotions and began to darken with him. Sensing an opportunity to strike at Avalon once more the Watchers came to a young Equinox and began to corrupt him, it would not take long for this corruption to set firmly and by the time his mother passed on Equinox was a vicious brute and many feared what he would do as the new King of Avalon. Sure enough King Equinox began a genocidal campaign of terror that purged Avalon of its ancient past via bloodshed and hate - wiping out the few humans left on Avalon he had Excalibur taken from its rightful place at King Arthur's side and buried it deep below the hills of Avalon before continuing to push the older races to near-extinction. King Equinox's madness was revealed to be due to him being a worshipper of the Watchers - making him a traitor to this people and a man who sought to destroy the living world to please his infernal masters. Yet as King Equinox slaughtered Avalon forces began to work against him, such as Kaosa - the Twilight Brood-Mother - who took the guise of a Pegacorn female in order to court Equinox, so that she could work on his destruction from within and end his reign of terror. Another thorn in Equinox's side would be the arrival of an infant Inferno, a seemingly orphaned half-blood Pegacorn with great power - sensing the boy's power Equinox sought his destruction but was fiercely opposed by Kaosa, who would raise Inferno as her own: hoping to someday use the boy to end Equinox as well as spread the Twilight cause, she would also mother a son to Equinox in the form of Equis - who she would care for "out of duty". Despite her many efforts Kaosa was unable to dethrone Equinox and he eventually faked his own death in order to ascend as a Lesser-Watcher - with Equinox gone Kaosa had no reason to stay and faked her death as well, leaving Equis as the ruler of Avalon, despite her dislike of him. The Twilight Wars (all events prior to the Fall of Avalon go here) The Fall of Avalon (the events of the Fall of Avalon go here) The Demigods (the events of Dusk right through to Monsters go here) The Once and Future King (the events of Monsters go here) Having gained the power of the Aspects the heroes stormed Tartarus and dethroned Ebonscale, yet as his physical form shattered the great dragon's spirit anchored itself deep in the core of Avalon and grew to unspeakable size, unleashing what would be known as the "Midnight Curse" - which rapidly began to shatter dimensional-barriers and convert the inhabitants of all worlds into Midnight Dragon-Flights. In order to save Avalon Inferno had to sacrifice himself and utilized both Excalibur and the Celestial-Blade to pierce the heart of Ebonscale, dying in the process but shattering the Aspect's link to Avalon and cleansing the realm of the Midnight Curse. The Misery-Flight (the events of Rise of The Misery-Flight go here) Despite Inferno's sacrifice Avalon still suffered from centuries of war and corruption, allowing the arch-demon known as Misery to infiltrate the land - sensing the great emotional power Avalon had and its ability to form new life-forms based on said emotions Misery began a crusade to annex the entire realm into a Misery Zone, corrupting a small group of dragons into the Misery Dragon-Flight. Ultimately Misery was defeated and her Dragon-Flight was cast into the wastelands of Avalon, having left a deep scar in the land. A Tale of Two Worlds (events leading up to and including Shadow of The Red Queen go here) During the events of The Last Crusade Merlin would manifest briefly in Avalon, having Thor and several others brave the depths of Tartarus in order to defeat Morgana Le Fay, who had grown more and more powerful as she fed off the negativity of Avalon (much as Misery had done): during this crisis Mordred's spirit would temporarily gain physical form via the collective doubt Avalon's citizenry had on Equis' rule and his ability to keep them safe but was ultimately slain and returned to Tartarus alongside his mother. Sangria experienced a disturbing vision in the short story known as "Of Things To Come" - this vision would come to pass during the events of "Shadow of The Red Queen". Category:Locations